Learn How To Save Big With The Art Of Price Matching

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork)-- Everyone likes a good deal. But when it comes to saving money, it turns out a lot of shoppers may be missing out on an easy opportunity to spend less.

Shoppers don't always need a sale or a coupon to save money.

"They may not advertise it, but a lot of stores have price-matching policies," Kevin Brasler, executive editor at Checkbook.org, told CBS2's Kathryn Hauser.

Find an item for less at a nearby store, or online, and many big chains will honor the lower price.

"We found it was very easy," Brasler said.

Checkbook.org sent mystery shoppers out to put these price match policies to the test, and they found for the most part it wasn't a hassle at all to get a better deal.

"We thought we'd run into problems doing this, honestly, and in the end we found that it was extraordinarily easy," Brasler said.

But it seems plenty of bargain hunters never even ask for the lower price once they reach the register.

"It's estimated less than 5 percent of customers take advantage of price matching policies," he said.

Some of the possible savings? Seventy dollars when a Bed, Bath & Beyond matched Amazon's price on a vacuum. Best Buy cut $140 off the price of a sound bar to match an online competitor. Home Depot sold a $99 tool kit for Lowe's price, plus an extra 10 percent off.

But at Home Depot, Checkbook found shoppers did have to put in extra effort.

"At Home Depot, we always had to get a manager on the scene and sometimes our mystery shoppers on the scene had to explain to the manager what the store's own matching policy was," Brasler said.

A little more time in the store could pay off in a big way. Some stores try to get around price-matching by carrying merchandise that is slightly different from what their competitors have.